Yes, (and THANKS for all this!) but radio's scanning method can EASILY (?)
be updated for Net music because I believe there is the (easy?) potential
of monitering ALL sends from all aggrigated music sites 24-7. Thus we could
institute radio's benevolent (only because they couldn't establish the
usual unbenevolent methods?) form for the compensation of music in bulk,
periodic payments, AND BE ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE AS TO WHO WAS "PLAYED" AND
HOW OFTEN.

DJ
Negativland

> ; margin-bottom: 0 } -->S That's an interesting (and unfortunate) case
>study. Hopefully Dean can sort your brother in law out : ) What is
>interesting to note is that copyright law is clearly antiquated. It was
>created at a time when the compositional process was typically someone
>sitting at a piano and writing notes on a piece of paper and someone
>writing lyrics on a piece of paper.
> The "product" was sheet music. Because there wasn't really a way to
>record rythm this way, rythm was (and still is - can you believe it!!!!)
>NOT part of the technical definition of a song in copyright law.
>Supposedly, according to law, music is defined by melody, harmony and
>lyrics. This doesn't help out drummers very much. (See - Clyde
>Stubblefield)
> Copyright law originated before the concept of "recorded music". This,
>therefore doesn't take care of many electronic music artists who - since
>pretty much the beginning of tape based recorded music itself - compose
>their art using this "instrument" instead of the piano or guitar. I'm
>talking about the vast history of electronic music - from early century
>"musique concrete" to Stockhausen to Throbbing Gristle and Negativland to
>the current widespread use of digital sampling and experimental electronic
>artists like Oval that are increasingly popular today.
> The protection involved in recorded music was grafted onto copyright law
>and as a result the industry evolved in such a way that we are sitting now
>on a time where it is rare for the artist to own his or her recorded art,
>which, for many of us, is synonymous with the composition.
> Now, it is still possible to register non-chord/melody based music with
>performance rights agencies, but technically - if push came to shove -
>these compositions wouldn't have much protection in court. If I understand
>this right, if there are no chords or melodies, it's technically not a
>musical work. (Maybe some of you IP lawyers out there will correct me if
>I'm wrong).
> Another big problem with copyright today is how it is administered. I
>have seen some pholks suggest that ASCAP and BMI could apply their
>gathering methods to the realm of streaming radio with some small
>tweaking. Tweaking? How about OVERHAUL!!!
> To get a different perspective on these agencies methods check out the
>following article (written by a musician, by the way : ) )
> http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/essays/royalty-politics.html> Here in Canada, the performing rights agency is called SOCAN. The US is
>one of the only countries in the world that has more than one. Healthy
>competition? Hardly.
> Here's a quote from SOCAN's FAQ regarding their radio station sampling
>method:
> http://www.SOCAN.ca/en/about/faq/member_royalties.asp> "Q: How does a radio survey work? A: SOCAN conducts a survey of all
>private commercial stations four times annually and processes all
>programming we receive to a maximum of 14 days per station. This survey
>applies to local CBC broadcasts as well as to college and community
>stations paying over $2,000 annually in licence fees. At this time, a
>sample is the most cost-effective way of monitoring radio programming."
> So, they take 14 days out of a radio stations' entire year and if your
>song isn't played in that puny window, that's it - try again next year.
>Sorry, but I'd hardly call that efficient! If this method is applied to
>streaming radio, they would actually have to steer away from the existing
>streaming radio station's databases, and come up with their own, costing
>even more money.
> These are some of the reasons why the "new economy" of the internet
>should be the vehicle for the "new copyright". Copyright law itself is
>flawed and so is the method in which it is gathered and distributed. If
>these concepts aren't addressed, we will lose the opportunity to right
>some wrongs during this massive shift.
> Ideally, a system could be developed that could really limit the need for
>Performing Rights Agencies or SoundExchange or all the other attempts at
>intercepting the flow of 1's and 0's. How hard would it be to develope
>some kind of "internet music registration" system to have the payments go
>directly to the artist?
> I better stop now - I'm ranting....and may have drifted off topic.....oops,
> D-Neu
>
>
>
>On 3 Feb 2001, Dean Kay argued, in response to Don Joyce:
>
> > There is nothing
> > in copyright that prevents ANY new art form from being made.
>
> Dean:
>
> Let me give an example of what I think Don is talking about and
> see what you think.
>
> My brother in law is a composer of classical-type music that uses
> electronic instruments. He's successful -- his stuff has won a
> Grammy and been played all over the world. (I cite this not to brag
> but in an attempt to show that he's a serious, well-respected guy.)
> A few years ago he wrote a long piece that has something to do
> with the history and development of music. It has been performed
> all over the world, including at Lincoln Center. That's the
> background. Here's the example.
>
> In the middle of this roughly 90-minute piece is a 1-minute section
> that is full of samples. The samples are of recorded music,
> arranged roughly chronologically from the '20s to the '90s, going
> from Ellington to hiphop. The longest sample is six seconds long
> and I believe that none of them are repeated. They are piled atop
> each other in a kind of sonic collage to show the development of
> 20th century music.
>
> My brother in law releases his music on Bridge, a small
> independent classical label. He has been trying to get this piece
> issued for three years on CD -- bear in mind that it has been played
> all over the world -- but simply cannot get clearances for the
> samples. It's not that he's been refused -- he can't even get the
> estates and publishing companies to answer his letters. (He has a
> stack of correspondance an inch high.) Even though the equivalent
> samples in the print world would be clearly equivalent to fair use,
> and the impact of his sample of, say, Take the A Train on the
> market for Ellington would be zero, the record simply can't come
> out -- Bridge is rightly terrified of proceeding without clearances.
>
> The reason for the stall, my brother in law thinks, is not the evil
> intransigence of the rightsholders so much as the fact that clearing
> this kind of sample is not worth their time and energy. In other
> words, it costs them too much to write back and say "okay". I'm
> not saying that this example proves that copyright is wrong, but it
> does seem to me to show that excessive zeal in enforcing
> copyright is preventing the appearance of at least one valid piece of
> music in the form desired by its creator.
>
> Respectfully,
> Charles Mann
> ---------------------------------------
> Charles C. Mann
> T: 413.256.3504
> F: 413.256.6619
> E: ccmannATmediaone.net
> S: PO Box 66 Amherst MA 01004-0066
>
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